Omkara will be the name of the new movie directed by Vishal Bharadwaj based on Shakespeare's Othello. The name Omkara was selected through a public contest. The other names suggested were "O Sathi Re" and "Issak".

The movie, a celluloid adapation of the epic tale of jealousy first told by the bard, will be the second Bollywood movie inspires by Shakespeare. The first was Maqbool, inspired by Macbeth. Maqbool basically derived the idea from Macbeth, rather than blindly reproducing it.

Omkara (Omi) is a gifted chieftain heading a band of outlaws, which includes the crafty Langda Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan) and the dynamic Kesu (Vivek Oberoi). Omi appoints Kesu and not Langda as his chief lieutenant.

The wounded pride of Langda rages with envy. He sews a a plot to implicate Omi's lover Dolly (Kareena Kapoor), in a love affair with Omi's "favorite lieutenant", Kesu.

With unintended help from Indu (Konkona Sen Sharma), Langda's wife, and the willing help of Raju, a fellow grouch, Langda's plan takes shape and results in horrific tragedy. Using petty insinuations and lies, Langda keeps poisoning Omi's mind till one day it snaps and Omi goes about tearing up his own safe and secure world. By the time he realizes what he has done and the backlash of his actions it is too late.

Said the movie's producer: "We received 2.5 million votes from all over the world and 80 percent of the people voted for 'Omkara'. 'Omkara' is larger than life and we always wanted to have a title beginning with 'O'." The producers also claimed that this is the first Indian movie whose name has been chosen by the audience.

Omkara will be the name of Ajay Devgan in the movie, who plays the role of Othello. There will be at least three songs in the movie. It has not been announced who will play the role of Desdemona. The music of the movie will be out in June and the movie in July.

Currently, the moviemakers are editing a 10-minute clipping of the movie, to be showcased at Cannes for the international audience. The whole cast of the movie is likely to be present at the show.

Omkara will sport a star cast of Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vivek Oberoi, Ayesha Takia, Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah.

Earlier, Vishal Bharadwaj had directed critically acclaimed and popular movies like Maqbool and Makdee.